


Changes, Or Not

by Emony



Series: Nakedness of Charlie [2]
Category: Numb3rs
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-10
Updated: 2010-01-10
Packaged: 2017-10-06 02:23:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emony/pseuds/Emony
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post the Nakedness of Charlie - and nothing's changed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Changes, Or Not

**Author's Note:**

> First posted 26 March 2008

Nothing, absolutely nothing has changed. Only this time its closer to Easter than it is to Christmas. And David smirks at him every so often. And Don looks puzzled at him every so often. Still - everything is the same as it was before. Before the Nakedness of Charlie. And yes, those capital letters are needed. The Nakedness of Charlie needs capital letters - if _it_ doesn't, then what does?

David used to smirk at him anyway. Don gets puzzled all the time, especially when Charlie's concerned - this is no different.

Nothing has changed at all. Except where it has.

Because there has been the Nakedness of Charlie. Not that Charlie hasn't ever been naked before - it's just that he's never seen Charlie naked before. He hasn't seen the Nakedness of Charlie since either.

"Granger, what're you pouting at?"

"Huh?" He looks up from the computer screen he hasn't actually looked at in the last five minutes right into the Smirk of David. And yes - once more the capital letters are needed.

"Pouting, Granger," the Smirk of David is still there.

"I wasn't."

"Sure," the Smirk of David is _still_ there.

"I _wasn't_."

"You weren't what?" _Just great. Megan._ And she's grinning too, behind the folder she's got covering her mouth - he just knows it.

"Granger was just pouting about something," David answers for him.

"I was not!"

"Really?" Megan asks David as if she hasn't even heard Colby's protest. And it was a protest - no whine in there at all. Just manly protesting.

"Uh huh." David answers and yes, the Smirk of David is still there.

"Are you pouting about anything in particular, Colby? Or is it just a general pout?"

"I am not pouting!"

"What's he pouting about?" asks Don from behind Colby's chair. And if there was ever a moment for planting ones face into the desk this would be it - unless Charlie's right there too... then that will be the moment for it.

"Nothing. Nothing at all. Because there was no pout!"

"OK," Don answers slowly backing away, "no need to add shouting to the pouting."

Nope. This right here. With the three wise... persons... laughing away would be the moment for the face plant.

Then, moments later, a voice - of a certain curly haired Mathematician - pipes up from the edge of the bullpen, "Is there a reason Colby's attempting to write his report with his forehead?"

Nope. Nothing's changed at all.

***

If David makes sure Colby's the one down at CalSci instead of David himself that's all about David wanting to be the one in the morgue - not for the dead bodies - for the hot M.E. Colby's not about to try and figure out that weird look on David's face when he practically snatched the morgue file from Megan or the way the Smirk somehow managed to be in his voice when he announced that Colby could go with Charlie.

Colby just sits himself down in the nearest empty chair to Charlie's current in use blackboard and watches... uh, guards, analyses... does whatever it is he's supposed to do when waiting for Charlie to be mathematically amazing.

And even if his eyes are on Charlie himself, his eyes as they scour the boards, his hands as they caress the chalk moving swiftly across the... even if his eyes are on Charlie, he knows that three students have just walked past the open office door discussing a physics lecture, that the couple below the window broke up last week and that those are Larry's footsteps next to Amita's passing the first three students.

His eyes are on the door before Amita has a chance to even look in Charlie's direction.

"Amita, Larry," he nods at Amita and smiles at Larry.

Charlie barely even waves a dust covered hand in their direction as he's still engrossed in the equation growing piece by piece across the board.

"Agent Granger," Amita mutters and then louder, "Charlie!"

"Colby, and how goes it at the FBI this lovely afternoon?" Larry asks, more than fully aware that he'll get nothing from Charlie until the math has finished speaking to him.

"As well as can be expected, Larry. Everyone says hi," he adds on, not sure how to say that Megan's out with Don running down some leads without it sounding like he's gossiping.

"Well, send my felicitations back to one and all."

"Will do."

Colby lets his eyes flitter back to Charlie and his math... and his sort of girlfriend. The couple under the window has moved on and a class just let out up the hall. And Amita still hasn't got Charlie's attention - maybe she'll learn when to give up and let the math finish speaking to him some day.

Suddenly the chalk skitters to an end and Charlie's back in the land of the living,

"Colby, I've got it!" he spins round, grinning at Colby. The Nakedness of Charlie flashes before his eyes and Colby does not blush - he just grins back.

"That's great, Charlie."

Amita coughs.

"Oh," Charlie startles, "Amita, hey. Larry! Sorry guys, didn't see you there, there was math - this case of Colby's..."

"Colby's?" Amita asks, a slight sharp edge to her voice – one Colby's hearing more and more of these days.

"Well, uh," Charlie shoots a puzzled look (not dissimilar to his brother's) at Colby, "Colby's, Don's, Megan's, David's... the FBI's?"

"Right," Amita says, "so, Charlie is there anything I, uh, we, can do to help you?"

"Not this time Amita, all I needed was a few minutes with Colby sitting right there and it came to me," he says it all with a smile and turns back to his work checking it once more before reaching for his cell.

If Colby Granger wasn't a highly trained agent/soldier/ex-spy he wouldn't have been able to stay where he was, not reacting at all to a comment like that. Amita wasn't a highly trained agent/soldier/ex-spy - the frown across her face was proof positive of that.

Colby had thought that the 'relationship' between Charlie and Amita had been fading before the Nakedness of Charlie, but he'd put that down to wishful thinking. Right now even he could see that maybe, just maybe that thinking was a little more realistic now.

***

Several hours later he was leaning against the trunk of his car, beer in hand glaring at the Smirk of David. The same Smirk of David that had a date friday night (cases willing) with the hot M.E.

"I dunno, Granger, I still think it was a pout. A pout that wasn't there when you got back from CalSci."

He might be a highly trained agent/soldier/ex-spy but it seems like David can see right through him some days - which is probably why it hurt them both so much when the whole spy thing blew up in his face.

"It wasn't a pout, so how could it be there when I got back from Charlie's office."

"Ah ha! You said Charlie's office."

"And? It's where I was..."

"Yes, but I said CalSci. There was no need to add specifics, Colby."

"Whatever, man." He said, shaking his now empty bottle, "I'm gonna head out."

"What? Not gonna take a shower before heading out?" David asked. _Not in this lifetime._ He hasn't been able to use the locker room showers since the Nakedness of Charlie – the chances of getting caught doing something he shouldn't be doing in communal showers are too high.

"Since when were you so interested in my showering, Sinclair?"

"Oh, since you took an interest in the showering habits of the littlest Eppes."

"I wouldn't let him catch you calling him that, man."

"Yes, hadn't you heard, I don't like it when people call me that, David?"

If it hadn't been so horrifying it would have been hilarious how high both he and David jumped at Charlie's question.

"What?" Charlie laughed, "Neither of you super agents heard me coming?"

"How long were you there for, Charlie?" Colby asks, more than a little worried, trying to figure out how, even a little drunk, neither he nor David had heard or seen him coming.

"Oh," Charlies answers, innocent look pasted across his face, "long enough to know David needs to take Don up on that offer of a ride home whilst I get you... home."

***

A half hour later he's unlocking his front door and wandering in, throwing his jacket in the direction of the sofa and Charlie's still right behind him.

"Uh, Charlie?" he asks, wondering what's going on.

Charlie takes off his own coat, throwing it so that it lands on top of Colby's own – and Colby is _not_ so far gone that he's taking that little scenario too far… it's a pair of coats – and he's not that far gone. Really.

"You need a shower," is the only answer he gets.

"But…"

"I figured that this time it might help if we were elsewhere and more than one of us was naked."

So, maybe things have changed.

**Author's Note:**

> Now you've finished with this hop on over [here](http://sparrowwritings.livejournal.com/12098.html?#cutid1) for the sequel from sparrowwritings.


End file.
